1-1     By:  Harris                                            S.B. No. 547
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 16, 1999; February 17, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     March 17, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4,
 1-5     Nays 0; March 17, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the classification of certain child support claims
 1-9     against the estate of a decedent.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 322, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-12     read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 322.  CLASSIFICATION OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
1-14     DECEDENT.  Claims against an estate of a decedent shall be
1-15     classified and have priority of payment, as follows:
1-16           Class 1.  Funeral expenses and expenses of last sickness for
1-17     a reasonable amount to be approved by the court, not to exceed a
1-18     total of Fifteen Thousand Dollars, with any excess to be classified
1-19     and paid as other unsecured claims.
1-20           Class 2.  Expenses of administration and expenses incurred in
1-21     the preservation, safekeeping, and management of the estate.
1-22           Class 3.  Secured claims for money under Section 306(a)(1),
1-23     including tax liens, so far as the same can be paid out of the
1-24     proceeds of the property subject to such mortgage or other lien,
1-25     and when more than one mortgage, lien, or security interest shall
1-26     exist upon the same property, they shall be paid in order of their
1-27     priority.
1-28           Class 4.  Claims for the principal amount of and accrued
1-29     interest on delinquent child support and child support arrearages
1-30     that have been confirmed and reduced to money judgment, as
1-31     determined under Subchapter F, Chapter 157, Family Code.
1-32           Class  5.  Claims for taxes, penalties, and interest due
1-33     under Title 2, Tax Code; Chapter 8, Title 132, Revised Statutes;
1-34     Section 81.111, Natural Resources Code; the Municipal Sales and Use
1-35     Tax Act (Chapter 321, Tax Code); Section 451.404, Transportation
1-36     Code; or Subchapter I, Chapter 452, Transportation Code.
1-37           Class 6 [5].  Claims for the cost of confinement established
1-38     by the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal
1-39     Justice under Section 501.017, Government Code.
1-40           Class 7 [6].  Claims for repayment of medical assistance
1-41     payments made by the state under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
1-42     to or for the benefit of the decedent.
1-43           Class 8 [7].  All other claims.
1-44           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-45     applies only to the estate of a decedent who dies on or after that
1-46     date.
1-47           (b)  The estate of a decedent who dies before the effective
1-48     date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of
1-49     the decedent's death, and the former law is continued in effect for
1-50     that purpose.
1-51           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-52     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-53     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-54     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-55     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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